“Deadpool” Director Says He Was Paid $225,000 for the 2016 Hit: 'Make More on an Episode of “The Walking Dead'”

Tim Miller is shedding light on his Deadpool payday.

Miller, who directed 2016's Deadpool, the first of Ryan Reynolds' standalone franchise, said during a recent panel at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil, according to Collider, “It's not really a profitable thing to be a first-time director in Hollywood, and I'll tell you exactly: I got $225,000 to direct Deadpool.”

The filmmaker, who had only written and directed short films prior to 2016, added, “I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that's not a ton of money. Not that I'm not grateful — I'm f---ing grateful. That's the way it is.”

Miller’s agent, he recalled, said at the time, “Dude, you make more on an episode of The Walking Dead!”

Related: Ryan Reynolds Reveals He's Writing a Non-Marvel Movie for Him, Hugh Jackman and Deadpool & Wolverine Director

Earning $782 million against a $58 million budget, Deadpool became the highest-grossing film in the X-Men franchise and highest-grossing R-rated film at the time.

Reynolds, 48, had first portrayed the character in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but as both actor and producer revamped Deadpool to more closely resemble the foul-mouthed antihero from the Marvel Comics.

Miller said he felt “nothing but pride” to have helped launch a successful franchise, with 2018’s David Leitch-directed Deadpool 2 making $785 million worldwide and 2024’s Shawn Levy-directed Deadpool & Wolverine making $1.338 billion worldwide.

The latter, serving as Deadpool’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut under distributor Disney, now holds the record for the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.

“I feel like every time I walk down the aisles out there on the floor of CCXP and I see all these Deadpool figurines, I think they wouldn't be here if we hadn't made [2016’s Deadpool],” continued Miller.

“And I feel uniquely fortunate that I could be part of it. Then, my second thought is, I wish my director deals had a piece of the merchandising so that I could get some money from all of that. "

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In a July interview with The New York Times, Reynolds commented on his own paycheck for the 2016 franchise starter.

“When I finally got to make it, it had been almost 10 years at that point," he said. "No part of me was thinking when Deadpool was finally greenlit that this would be a success."

The star added that he "even let go of getting paid" to make the action flick, noting that when co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick weren’t allowed on set, “I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers' room.”

Since the success of Deadpool, Miller has directed the 2019 action movie Terminator: Dark Fate, created the Prime Video animated anthology series Secret Level and executive-produced Paramount’s hit Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Its third film is in theaters now.

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